ABILENE - The jobless rate in the Abilene area has improved, instead of falling, for the first time this year, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.

In the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area — made up of Taylor, Jones and Callahan counties — the jobless rate fell from 4.6 percent in February 2014 to 4.2 percent in March 2014. A rate of 4.5 percent was recorded in January 2014.

The March figure is down from the same month last year, when the area recorded a rate of 5 percent. The Abilene MSA rate is below the state average of 5.5 percent and well below the national rate of 6.7 percent.

Employers in Texas added 9,100 jobs in March, bringing the count to 310,000 jobs added so far this year, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. The annual growth rate for total nonagricultural employment in the state has remained at or above 2.6 percent since January 2012, the commission reported.